


Dream with Me

by rainyfran



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project, ラブライブ! 虹ヶ咲学園スクールアイドル同好会 | Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai (Anime)
Genre: Awkward Romance, F/F, Fluff, Love Confessions, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29781585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainyfran/pseuds/rainyfran
Summary: On the eve of her birthday, Ayumu ponders over her feelings for Yuu. Yuu visits Ayumu's house just before midnight strikes, and gives Ayumu a birthday present. A mutual love confession ensues.
Relationships: Takasaki Yuu/Uehara Ayumu
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	Dream with Me

**Author's Note:**

> Ayumu’s first solo song in the anime is called “Dream with You”. However the fic is titled “Dream with Me” because this time it is Ayumu’s slightly selfish wish to share her dream with Yuu, since it’s her birthday! This fic assumes the anime canon. I hope I have portrayed Ayumu, Yuu and YuuPomu accurately enough here! Happy Birthday Ayumu!

_“I've been hiding it for some time now, deep within my heart. Pretending that I hadn't noticed these budding emotions.”_

When Ayumu penned down those lyrics in her diary, many thoughts were certainly racing through her mind. Her budding passion for school idols was genuine, of course. However, there was something else lingering in her mind for the longest time: What exactly did she feel for Yuu, her childhood friend whom she had known for almost her entire life? 

Ayumu had secretly read and watched countless fictional stories of girls in love, but her favourite pairings always involved childhood friends, for some reason she could not fully comprehend. It was not like she did not understand what love was - in fact, love was a precious, beautiful emotion to her. What she did not understand was whether her yearning to always be by Yuu’s side was worthy of being called ‘love’.

It was now the night before her birthday. Just an hour before midnight, in fact. As Ayumu curled up on bed hugging her pastel pink plush bunny, with Sasuke, her pet plush snake lying close by her side, she pondered over the past few months. How she mustered the courage to take the first step to become a school idol, how she gained more friends and even got to know many kind fans. These memories warmed her heart, yet the focus of her memories was more often than not Yuu’s bright, earnest smile in response to her school idol activities. Even during the times where she stood on stage singing and dancing her heart out, she would recall looking towards the audience, searching for Yuu’s enthusiastic grin and cheering, as Yuu frantically waved her lightsticks.

As Ayumu’s mind wandered, she recalled her emotional outburst towards Yuu some time ago. A truly embarrassing moment that still weighed her heart down with guilt.

_“I want to be a school idol just for Yuu-chan. So...please always remain as my Yuu-chan…”_

Ayumu’s past words echoed and replayed in her mind. “Urgh, why did it have to be now?” Ayumu thought to herself, gripping her plush bunny even more tightly towards herself. 

She knew that Yuu had promised they would pursue their dreams together and always remain by each other’s side. However, Ayumu wondered, “Why did I say those words back then? I should have been happy that Yuu-chan found her dream, right? Why am I so afraid of Yuu-chan leaving me? Would Yuu-chan be disgusted with someone like me? Is someone like me even fit to be a school idol for Yuu-chan and everyone else?” These self-doubts overwhelmed her mind. She hated herself for feeling so easily lonely and insecure in spite of Yuu’s consistent reassurances.

Despite Setsuna’s passionate encouragement back then, Ayumu’s heart was still constantly carrying just this fear: of losing her sense of self and motivation to live if Yuu were to abandon her. A school idol is supposed to perform for her fans, but how could she perform with a sincere heart if her heart was empty because her precious person would not even take a glance at her? Though Ayumu felt ashamed admitting it, the adoration of a fanbase of strangers paled in comparison to just one sentence of praise from Yuu. Ayumu’s eyes gradually welled up with tears. As tears streamed down Ayumu’s face, her eyes were downcast, staring blankly into space. 

Suddenly, Ayumu’s phone started ringing. Ayumu was startled back to reality by the ringtone and grabbed her phone immediately. She saw Yuu’s familiar profile photo on her phone screen. Frantically wiping away her tears with one hand, Ayumu answered the phone.

“Hello, Yuu-chan? What’s up?” Ayumu spoke softly. Her voice was slightly hoarse from crying earlier, but she did not want Yuu to know that.

“Hi Ayumu! It’s your birthday soon right? I thought...of popping by your house now! I wanna be the first one to celebrate your birthday with you, or something...eh heh heh. Is that okay?” Yuu asked cheerfully on the phone, her voice trailing off at the end as she laughed sheepishly.

“Really? It’s getting really late, though, will you be okay…? If it’s not too much trouble for you, sure. I’ll let mom know so that she can open the door for you.” Ayumu answered sweetly, trying desperately to conceal her brimming excitement.

“Okay! See you in a few minutes!” Yuu chirped, before promptly ending the phone call.

\---------------

Ayumu made sure to wash her face a little and comb her peach pink hair neatly before Yuu’s arrival. She did not want Yuu to know that she was a disheveled crying mess earlier, after all. She left her room door open as a subtle invitation to Yuu to enter her room any time. 

Since Yuu lived next door, she arrived just ten minutes later. Before entering Ayumu’s room, Yuu knocked on the door lightly. “Ayumu! Can I come in?” Yuu asked, peeking from the door to look at Ayumu, who was already sitting on the edge of the bed while hugging a medium-sized fluffy pastel yellow cushion.

“Sure, come in.” Ayumu gently replied. She turned to look at Yuu, a small smile unconsciously forming on her face. With this, perhaps she could forget about all the depressing thoughts clouding her mind earlier, and actually look forward to her birthday. Taking a closer look, Ayumu could not help but notice Yuu’s arms tucked behind her back, as if she were hiding something.

Yuu skipped towards Ayumu. Standing in front of Ayumu, Yuu brought out the carefully wrapped pink present box from behind her back and offered it to Ayumu. 

“Happy Birthday, Ayumu!” Yuu chimed, with a beaming smile on her face. “It took me some time to browse around all those shops and find something that fits you! Sorry for not accompanying you home so often recently. But! Your birthday’s an important day! So I put in extra effort to find something good!”

“E-Eh?” After setting aside her cushion, the surprised Ayumu carefully took the present from Yuu, placed it on her lap and held it with both hands, as if she feared that she would damage Yuu’s precious present if she were to accidentally drop it or grab it with too much force.

“Ah...erm, thank you, Yuu-chan…” Ayumu’s voice was quiet, a small blush forming on her face. “To think that Yuu-chan would go through all that effort for me…” She thought to herself dreamily.

“Hey! Why don’t you open the present now? I totally wanna show you what’s inside! Actually, I also want to see your reaction, hehe.”

“Really? Well, if you say so…”

Ayumu delicately untied the golden ribbon wrapping, removed the wrapping paper and lifted the box lid, placing the lid next to her. Her eyes widened in ecstatic surprise when she saw the box contents and looked at the contents: a pastel pink headband with a tiny ribbon attached, placed on top of what seemed like pastel pink clothes. Placing the pink headband on her bedside table, she lifted the clothes up from the box and was even more in awe: it was a short-sleeved dress, but different from the pastel pink dresses she already had. The top of the dress was pastel pink with subtle tiny white flower patterns and a round white lace collar that had little white pearls attached, while the cloth of the multi-tiered frilled skirt had a mother-of-pearl shimmer to it. The skirt shone a mix of pastel pink, purple and blue. 

“Yuu-chan...how did you know I was eyeing a dress like this…?” Ayumu asked shyly, lightly hugging the dress close to herself.

“Well...you showed me some pictures of the school idols you were eyeing recently, right? I noticed you tend to linger on and look at certain types of dresses when window shopping too. I thought you’d like a dress of this aesthetic. To tell you the truth, actually it’s something I’d like to see you wear too! Hope you like it!” Yuu beamed.

“EH?!” Ayumu exclaimed. Her face blushed even redder, both her hands cupping her face. Before she knew it, the dress had dropped on the floor. This made her even more flustered.

“Ah! So sorry!” Ayumu picked up the dress quickly with one hand, before continuing to whine, “Jeez, how do you say such embarrassing things with a straight face?” Since she did not want to crumple the dress, Ayumu hurriedly fished out a hanger from her wardrobe and hung up her new dress on a nearby clothes hanger, where it could hang nicely. 

“At least call it romantic~ just kidding! Hehe.” Yuu retorted cheekily, but ended up scratching the back of her head with one hand as she realised the embarrassing remark she just blurted out without thinking.

Ayumu jumped in shock at that statement. “Did she just say...romantic? Did I hear that right?” That was the only thought circling in her mind, as her heart raced like never before. Her lime green eyes shimmered with joy. A moment of epiphany came to Ayumu: that exhilarating, blissful, warm yet sometimes painful feeling of yearning she felt for Yuu had to be love. She could not deny it to herself any more.

Ayumu swiftly ran back to Yuu, reaching out to grab both of Yuu’s hands. She looked intently into Yuu’s emerald green eyes.

“E-Erm, Yuu-chan...I know you always say these things so casually, but...do you really mean it this time? I- How do I explain it, uuuu I don’t know…” Ayumu squeaked. 

“Ayumu…?” Yuu tilted her head in confusion and concern.

“I want to always be together with you and go everywhere with you, but I don’t want to burden you. I don’t want to prevent you from pursuing your dreams. I really want to feel happy for you and support you the best way I can, as a best friend should! But... I can’t help but feel lonely, you know? I keep feeling so scared of losing you. When you say things like that, it hurts my heart so much, because...I don’t think you love me in the way that I do...” Ayumu stammered nervously, her eyes brimming with tears as she spoke. 

Yuu gripped Ayumu’s trembling hands firmly, while matching Ayumu’s intent gaze. “Ayumu, hey. I may not be the most honest person out there, since I’m often so awkward and all...but trust me on this one, please? I- I do love you as a person too, you know? Not just as a bestie...”

“Huh?”

“Speaking of which, did you not see the chocolate I gave you on Valentine’s? That was supposed to be _honmei_ chocolate...gee, did you not realise that? I know it was store-bought since I can’t cook for the life of me, but I gave you the best chocolate I could find!”

Ayumu’s mind blanked out for a moment at Yuu’s revelation. She wondered if she had actually fallen asleep earlier and that this was merely a dream. If this were a dream, it was one she would never want to wake up from. She lightly squeezed Yuu’s hands to ascertain if this were reality. To her relief, it was. Yuu’s hands felt warm and soft, but in a way unlike every other instance Yuu had appeared in her dreams.

“Really? M-My chocolate gift to Yuu-chan was _honmei_ chocolate too! You merrily ate up all the chocolate you received back then, so I thought you didn’t think much of my chocolate even though I put in so much effort in making it…” 

“Jeez Ayumu, do you underestimate my love for you that much?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I mean...you have so many people around you who depend on you and respect you! Don’t you pay extra attention to Setsuna-chan too? I mean, she’s Nijigasaki’s top school idol who got you into school idols in the first place, unlike me...” Ayumu’s voice fell.

“Wait, you’re still concerned about that?” 

Yuu let go of Ayumu’s hands and wrapped Ayumu in a tight embrace. Ayumu was stunned, her mind in a frenzy as she tried to make sense of the situation. Yet, she yearned to hear Yuu’s response, hoping to hear some reassurance. She did not dare to dream of her feelings ever being reciprocated.

“Ayumu. Listen to me, please. I- I don’t even know when I started to feel this way, but I know I cannot imagine life without you. I want to support you in everything with all my best effort, because that’s the only way I know how to show you what I feel! No matter the path you choose, I want to always be beside you. Sometimes I even feel a little jealous when I see you surrounded by so many adoring fans. Your kindness, your warmth, your gentleness, even every other part of yourself that you don’t like...I love everything about you! I thought a lot about it! And I realised that I...I love you, Ayumu.”

Ayumu was surprised by the determination in Yuu’s voice. She did not expect Yuu to take her feelings seriously, after all. As the weight of all her years of pining were lifted from her heart, Ayumu was overwhelmed with emotion. Relief, happiness, love, gratitude...as these emotions flooded her heart, they overflowed through her tears. Ayumu could not have asked for a better birthday present than this.

Ayumu’s sudden sobbing shocked Yuu. “Ayumu! Are you okay? Sorry if I said anything weird! That didn’t sound very ‘me’, right? Ahaha.” 

“I’m okay....Yuu-chan, thank you. I just have one small selfish wish, if you would allow me. Could you always stay by my side and see through my dreams together with me...?” Ayumu asked softly, hugging Yuu even more tightly.

“Yes Ayumu, I will.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. Because I love you.”

“Yuu-chan, I- I love you too. I love you so much.”


End file.
